• Visit
    • Museum Accessibility
    • Community Access
    • Group Visits and Tours
    • Programs
      • History Café
      • MOHAI Mercantile Literary Series
      • First Thursday
      • Denny Lecture
      • Al Young Educator of the Year
      • Everyday Heroes
    • MOHAI Mercantile
    • Gourmondo at MOHAI
  • Exhibits
  • Events
  • Collections and Research
    • Collections Search
    • Themed Collections
    • Research Library
    • Image Ordering
    • Donate an Artifact
    • Curator’s Fellowship
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Membership at MOHAI
    • Gift Memberships
    • Corporate Support
  • Education
    • Field Trips
      • Self-Guided School Year Explorations
      • Creating Our Community
      • Cracking the History Code: Salish Stories
      • Cracking the History Code: Settling Around the Sound
      • Hands on History
      • Self-Guided Summer Field Trips
      • Homeschool Group
    • Portable Museum Program
    • Scholarships
    • Education FAQ
    • Primary Source Analysis
    • Online Curricula
    • Teen Programs
    • Idea Lab
    • Discovery Packs
    • Summer Camps
  • About
    • Annual Reports
    • The MOHAI Blog
    • Contact MOHAI
    • Opportunities
    • Leadership
    • Private Events
  • Donate
  • Tickets
  • Membership
HomeCollections and ResearchCollections Search

Collections Search

Explore stories in Northwest history through highlights from MOHAI’s collections. Search by keyword below or browse the entire online collection by entering the asterisk symbol (*). Filter your search by type of materials.

Download lower resolution images directly from an item page. MOHAI offers high-resolution digital reproductions of photographs and other materials from our collections for personal and professional use.

We have many more items in our collections and not everything you see online is on view at the museum. We have additional materials online at the University of Washington’s Digital Collections.

MOHAI Statement on Harmful Content

Search by Collection

Not finding what you are looking for?
Ask the MOHAI Collections Staff

272 results for: Lake Union

Share:
Image of Releasing water from Lake Union into the Montlake Cut, Seattle, August 26, 1916
Photograph

Releasing water from Lake Union into the Montlake Cut, Seattle, August 26, 1916

The Montlake Cut is part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal that connects Puget Sound, Lake Union, and Lake Washington. While digging the Montlake Cut, engineers built a temporary dam to hold back the waters of Lake Union's Portage Bay. The waters were released in August 1916, and the Lake Washington Ship Canal opened for business on July 4, 1917,…
ID Number:1983.10.10326
Date:1916
Image of Herb Munter's seaplane in Lake Union, Seattle, 1916
Photograph

Herb Munter's seaplane in Lake Union, Seattle, 1916

Handwritten on sleeve: Minter [sic] Seaplane Lake Union, 1916.Webster & Stevens number: 52298
ID Number:1983.10.10347
Date:1916
Image of Lake Washington Ship Canal, Seattle, 1917
Photograph

Lake Washington Ship Canal, Seattle, 1917

The Lake Washington Ship Canal followed the routes of earlier canals and streams which connected Lake Washington, Lake Union, and Salmon Bay. This photo shows part of the canal in 1917. It was taken looking west from the Ballard Bridge. Handwritten on sleeve: Ship Canal W. from Ballard Bridge, 1917.Webster & Stevens number: 54408
ID Number:1983.10.10428
Date:1917
Image of Spectators at opening of Lake Washington Ship Canal, Seattle, July 4, 1917
Photograph

Spectators at opening of Lake Washington Ship Canal, Seattle, July 4, 1917

The Lake Washington Ship Canal opened for business on July 4, 1917, after six years of construction. The opening was the high point of Seattle's Fourth of July celebration. In this photo, spectators crowd the banks of Lake Union to watch the parade of several hundred boats passing through the new canals. It is likely that the photographer was standing…
ID Number:1983.10.10570
Date:1917
Image of U.S. Naval Training Station, 1917
Photograph

U.S. Naval Training Station, 1917

During World War I, the U.S. Navy had a training station on the University of Washington campus. The Navy buildings were on the shore of Lake Union, near where the university's health sciences center is now located.This 1917 photo shows sailors moving supplies at the Naval Training Station on Lake Union, near the Varsity Boat Club. The crates are filled…
ID Number:1983.10.10602
Date:1917
Image of Elevator and storage bunker at Seattle Lighting Co. plant , Seattle, circa 1918
Photograph

Elevator and storage bunker at Seattle Lighting Co. plant , Seattle, circa 1918

The Seattle Lighting Company, which was the gas company for Seattle, opened a nine-acre plant on the north shore of Lake Union in 1905-06. Huge quantities of coal arrived in railroad cars and fueled the ovens that produced gas and coke, supplying Seattle with lights and home heating. This photograph looks towards Queen Anne and shows a portion of the…
ID Number:1983.10.10656.3
Date:Circa 1918
Image of Boeing
Photograph

Boeing "Model C" float plane docked on Lake Union, Seattle, 1919

Aviation pioneer William Edward "Bill" Boeing (1881-1956) was born in Detroit to German immigrants. He came to Seattle in 1908, where, during the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1909, he saw a manned flying machine for the first time and became fascinated with aircraft. With a partner, Mr. Boeing created two B&W prototype float planes in 1916, both of which were rejected…
ID Number:1983.10.10793
Date:1919
Image of Herb Munter and others posing with Boeing Model C seaplane, Seattle, circa 1916
Photograph

Herb Munter and others posing with Boeing Model C seaplane, Seattle, circa 1916

The flying career of legendary pilot Herbert A. Munter (1895-1970) began early as he built his first plane from a bed sheet, wooden struts, wires from market baskets and a 40-horsepower engine. Teaching himself to fly it in 1912, he went on to barnstorming and test piloting for the Boeing Company. He opened Seattle's first passenger carrying service in 1920…
ID Number:1983.10.10852.2
Date:Circa 1916
Image of Eddie Hubbard delivering air mail from Canada, circa 1920
Photograph

Eddie Hubbard delivering air mail from Canada, circa 1920

In March 1919, airplane manufacturer William Boeing and pilot Eddie Hubbard carried a sack of mail from Vancouver to Seattle by seaplane. This demonstration flight was the first known international air mail trip, and it inspired regular mail flights between Seattle and Victoria, British Columbia.In this photo, taken around 1920, pilot Eddie Hubbard delivers a sack of mail after landing…
ID Number:1983.10.10901.2
Date:Circa 1920
Image of Eddie Hubbard's plane landing in Lake Union, Seattle, circa 1919
Photograph

Eddie Hubbard's plane landing in Lake Union, Seattle, circa 1919

In March 1919, airplane manufacturer William Boeing and pilot Eddie Hubbard carried a sack of mail from Vancouver to Seattle in Boeing's private seaplane. This demonstration flight was the first known international air mail trip. It took the two men three hours each way, including stops. At the time, it took much longer for the mail to travel between the…
ID Number:1983.10.11080
Date:Circa 1919
Previous 1 … 9 10 11 12 13 … 28 Next

Land Acknowledgement

MOHAI stands on the historic and contemporary lands and shores of the Duwamish, Suquamish, Muckleshoot, and other Coast Salish Nations. We acknowledge the forced displacement of Native Communities from this land while honoring the endurance of the Duwamish people who still live here.
Address: 860 Terry Ave N, Seattle WA, 98109
Phone: 206 324 1126
  • Plan a Visit
  • Directions and Parking
  • Accessibility
  • Group Tours
  • About

Sign up to Receive our Newsletter

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright 2026, Museum of History & Industry. All Rights Reserved